The sun., 1887-03-30
nat is all there Is Of that matter.
Coercion With a Vengeance.

Coercion With n Vengeance.
Ninety coercion bills for Ireland have been
laid before the House Of Commons since the
ll.starred union OF the kingdoms. Yet not
one OF those proposals to subvert the civil
rights Of Irishmen-and We do not except
those prompted by the wido prevalence Of
homicide OF the imminent danger Of armed
insurection--has embraced features more
anomalous and shocking than those OF the
measure framed by BALfoUR at a time Of un-
exampled order and tranquility. We have
placed the main provisions Of the new
Crimes bill before cur readers, and ',, know
that when their meaning has beer lilly ap-
pretended they will excite disgust nd exc
Grafton In all fair-minded men. II uch pro-
visions can, without Il show Of provooaton,
be sanctioned by British Parliament, 1t will
be the universal verdict Of American on
lockers that England is grossly unfit to gov
ern Ireland, and that Irishmen would be un-
worthy OF the rights Of freemen II they suf-
fered themselves to be thus governed.
1t was predicted by his friends that BAL
FoUR's proposal would be thorough" and
II by thOroughness is meant the humiliation
Of the safeguards and immunities of free
men, thorough 1t unquestionably Is. In the
first place, the right of trial by jury is
to be utterly extinguished in Ireland. except
where men may be accused Of murder,
attempt to murder, and aggravated ex-
amples of violence and arson. Even in these
few excepted cases the pretended concession
Of the privilege of jury trial is shameless
mockery. For, on the joint Ger. ticate Of the
Irish and English Attorneys Ceueral-both
Of which officers are appointed and remova-
BILE by the Tory yGovernment-the venue may
IN any instance be removed from ireland to
any part Of England where jury implaca-
bly, hostile to Irishmen and supinely docile
to the Judge may most easily be gained.
That is the only rug of the jury system left
to Irishmen, and dirty rag it is.
As to all offences other than those just
mentioned. powers OF arrest, imprisonment,
and summary conviction are given to magis-
trates appointed by the Tory Government OF
Ireland. Among the persons over whom this
irresponsible and arbitrary jurisdiction
stretches, are all those accused OF incite-
ment to any Of the transgressions emu
merated in the bill. This provision arms,
and Is intended to arm, Secretary BAL
FOUR with the means OF dispensing
every Nationalist meeting and strangling
every Nationalist newspaper. An ancillary
clause empowering the Viceroy to outlaw So
rieties which in his judgment are disturbing
peace and order, supplies a preteXt for the
extirpation OF the National League, whose
sole crime is the election OF eighty-tive mem-
bers of Parliament from Ireland. Not even
yet have we exhausted the malign infringe
ments Of this bill Oh the fundamental guaran-
tees of personal security and liberty. Not
only is there nothing left Of the petit jury
system but shell, but the. grand jury sys-
tenn is also to he swept away. Poor
as was the defence afforded to the Irish ten
antry by grand juries- drawn as these were
almost wholly from landlords or the classes
dependent on them--yet the members Of
these local bodies have not been always
willing to abuse the elastic resources Of
secret examination and &c parte testimony
with sufficient recklcssness and rigor. Ac-
cordingly the formidable engine of in
Gctment has been taken from them and
given to an individual stipendiary of the
Government. Indeed, Irish magistrates will
have under the Crimes bill Il morefa search
ing and sinister power of initiative 'an ever
grand juries have asserted. lIA.er the
BALFoUE bill n magistrate need NJ. wait for
any formal accusation before InQulflnR
whether grounds exist for an prrest. On his
own motion, or upon suggestion pl1vlly
conveyed from Dub!in Castle, he can sum-
mon witnesses and force them to testify UNI
dor oath for the purpose Of furnishing a
basis for criminal proceedings against any
one Objectionable to the Tory Government.
Mr.. BALFOUR told the House of Commons
that for this astounding provision he had
found a precedent in the law OF Scotland.
II 1t be so, Scotchmen are incomparaby
worse of than they are thought to be. We
would naturally suppose this feature OF the
bill to be copied from the CHASTITY parody
of justice which Is enacted at st. Petersburg.
For years the truest' friends Of Irishmen on
this side of the Atlantic have adjured them
to rolrgo every thought OF violence and pa
tiently conine themselves to peaceful and
constitutional rcmonstrance. They have
needed our injunctiOns and what Is their re-
ward They have rcsOrted to the ballot box,
aud with that honorable engine the National
lists havc mustered tive-sixths of Ireland.
They have. by the confessions OF their enc
mics, shown themselves the most effective
uphocrs OF civil order; the empty dockets
of the criminal courts prove how they have
kept the peace. They have done this, not be-
cause they hoped for nything from England.
but because they wished To merit Americas g
good will They have done this: and what is
their reward2